District Council of Coober Pedy, Media Release, 25 August 2021

On 23 August 2021, the Ombudsman released a redacted report into his investigation of Council’s historic billing practices. The trigger for the investigation was a complaint in 2018 from the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement on behalf of Aboriginal people into Council’s electricity and water billing practices.

The Ombudsman found that the current administration “inherited a legacy of previous practices that mishandled debts, failed to properly identify financial hardship circumstances, and failed to engage community members with payment arrangements that were realistic or focussed on the individual’s financial circumstances.” Of particular concern to the Ombudsman is the substantial breakdown of trust between the Council and community members based on many years of limited transparency and clarity about the state of their debts, with catastrophic financial implications. The Ombudsman found that Council had:

• Breached its license conditions;
• Acted in a manner that appears contrary to law;
• Acted in a manner that was wrong by failing to inform customers of the impact of any payments made under a Hardship Agreement; and
• Contravened hardship policies.

Council acknowledges, and is sorry for, the harm and mistrust caused by its past billing practices, is committed to implementing all of the recommendations in the report, and welcomes all community input as to how we can move forward together.

The Ombudsman made seven recommendations to address these issues, noting that there is ‘no quick fix’ to this situation. He also acknowledged the “many encouraging steps that the new administration has taken to remedy a number of errors identified in the investigation”, and the “difficult position in managing the fallout from a council placed into involuntary administration”.

Council has undertaken a major review of its debt management policies and written off a significant amount of electricity debt in the 2020-21 financial year. However, there is still much more to do, including cultural awareness training for all employees, the provision of more information to customers particularly in relation to hardship, and the creation of an Aboriginal Engagement Plan.

Council will continue to inform the community as we address these issues.

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